DEFUNCT charity Kids Company received so much Government cash it got a £9million handout to spend on just 750 children - more than double the sum charity giant Barnardo's received at the same time.

The failed organisation got so much taxpayers' money its handouts dwarfed those of more recognisable organisations thanks to the generosity of ministers, despite ongoing civil service concerns.

Kids Company's £9million was more than DOUBLE the £4.2million received by Barnardo's over the same two-year period.

Details of funds allocated to charities through the Department for Education's (DfE) Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) grant of around £60 million each year show from 2011/12 to 2012/13 Kids Company was awarded close to £8.97million - about six percent of the total budget on offer - but it could only be spent on just 750 children.

The lion's share was reserved for 250 "high-risk" children at its Urban Academy in Southwark and Arches II HQ in Camberwell, sites connected to allegations of drug abuse, rowdy behaviour and sexual assault.

The whopping sum dwarfed the £4.2million given to Barnardo's over the two financial years, despite the latter operating successfully since 1845 and helping 200,000 children a year.

The Kids Company payouts were so generous, it meant charity bosses Camila Batmanghelidjh and Alan Yentob had an average of £12,000 over two years to spend on EACH of the 750 youths and children eligible for its support through the grant.

Spread out across Barnardo's its £4.2million would be £21 per child over 24 months.

Kids Company was founded in 1996 and has been dogged by financial woes throughout its short history, but the NAO found it got £46million of Government cash in total.

At most it claims to have helped up to 36,000 youngsters a year - still significantly less than Barnardo's, but official reports have shown much smaller numbers of people actually logged in its records.

The high per child sum is also concerning as Ms Batmanghelidjh has faced accusations of giving out cash handouts in envelopes, including to men in their 20s.

DfE documents regarding the charities bids for the cash show Kids Company's money was to help just 750 children.

Kids Company's application summary when bidding stated the aim was to: "Improve the life-chances of around 250 high risk young people and 500 medium risk young people through the provision of practical tailored multidisciplinary interventions providing health, social care and education/employment support that will reduce young people’s distress and address the issues fuelling risky behaviours and poor achievement."

Although Kids Company provided some services local education authorities would usually offer, it was not responsible for housing at risk children.

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Camila Batmanghelidjh arrives for a grilling before MPs this month

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At the same time Barnardo's, which is involved in meeting housing needs and the adoption of vulnerable youngsters, made two bids for money, but these were seen as less worthy of support by DfE ministers.

Ministers allowed grants totalling £2.26million, £580,000 and £1.4million towards Barnardo's plans, making a total of around £4.26million for the big-name charity over the two years.

Big name counselling charity Relate got £3.5million over two years and the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services around £2.5million, but most others including SCOPE, the Terrence Higgins Trust, the National Children’s Bureau and Action for Children, trailed with from just a few hundred thousand pounds to around £1.5million each over the period.

The DfE initially refused to comment on our findings, even though it had supplied £30.5m - the lion's share of any Government department - to Kids Company between 2005 and 2014, insisting it was for the Cabinet Office to respond.

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It is unbelievable that over 13 years taxpayers' money has been given to Kids Company with little focus on what it was actually achieving for the children it was supporting

Meg Hillier, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee

A DfE spokeswoman then said: "VCS grants are chosen in a highly competitive process which takes into account the benefits they will bring to the most vulnerable children and their families.

“Applications for funding are based on strict, published criteria in an open and objective process led by departmental officials.

"Applications are considered at length by DfE officials and ministers are kept informed throughout the process.

"VCS grants in 2011 were allocated to services offered under specific themes, including young people, children in care and families and relationship support, with a particular emphasis on early intervention and tackling the needs of the most disadvantaged groups.

"The criteria for VCS applications are published in the National Prospectus."

We have contacted Barnardo's for comment and await a response.

Yesterday the NAO report concluded Kids Company was publicly funded for 13 years by Government ministers despite grave reservations repeatedly raised by civil servants.

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Kids Company closed in August, just days after Cabinet Office ministers Matthew Hancock and Oliver Letwin snubbed the advice of a top civil servant not to pay anymore out, awarding it a £3m bailout.

The report by the NAO, Parliament's spending watchdog, says civil service fears were historic.

Civil servants objected to the management of the charity by Ms Batmanghelidjh, former founder and BBC creative director Mr Yentob, its chair of trustees.

The report listed recurring concerns of officials that Kids Company was "weakly managed", not well regarded by local authorities, that government funds were at risk, bail-outs set bad precedents and that "other investments" could offer better value for money.

The NAO looked at why, given these widespread concerns from officials, the money kept being doled out to the tune of £46million.

Its report suggested ministers who ignored civil service advice were in fear of being "bullied" by Ms Batmanghelidjh since an internal 2002 strategy document described her "bully strategy" as "threatening ministers with the outcomes of failing to deliver care to children".

Meg Hillier, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) , said: "It is unbelievable that over 13 years taxpayers' money has been given to Kids Company with little focus on what it was actually achieving for the children it was supporting.